Order In The House

A Hamadryas male keeping the peace in his harem as two younger males fight in his sight. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

French Hydrangea

French Hydrangea looking fresh in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Sometimes, I like using a macro lens like the Sigma 150mm to photograph flora. It gives me enough reach and at the same time allows me to work closely if needed.

Traversing The Supertrees

Folks getting a feel of things 22 metres (about 70 feet) up in the Supertrees. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Afternoon Snooze

A King Penguin catching forty winks in the former Jurong Bird Park. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

A stop of positive exposure compensation was used to lift the shadows of this snoozing king penguin. The camera had to be braced against a handrail as the shutter speed was a mere 1/50 second at ISO3200. Lighting was pretty dim in the air-conditioned penguin pen.

A Colourful Burst In The Garden

Pelargoniums bursting forth in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

I was quite happy with the Fujifilm colour for this shot so this was left alone.

Beyond The Facade

Hydrangea macrophylla revealing their undersides in an uncommon display in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Shade-Loving Impatiens

Ever blooming impatiens in the Flower Dome. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken in a shady area of the conservatory with the exposure biased 2/3 stop darker. In post, the highlights were pulled back a little for the colours to come out better.

Crown Of Thorns

Euphorbia milii or Crown of Thorns thriving in the Flower Dome. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured against a brown backdrop that was actually a little distance away. But because of the more generous depth-of-field of the smaller sensor and a slow lens, the backdrop was still visible. This was darkened away by a little ‘burning’ and then by darkening the dark and mid-tones in post.

Dendrobium Easter Vigor

Dendrobium “Easter Vigor” getting misted in the National Orchid Garden. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken with the macro mode of the Fujifilm X-S1. The mode was very handy where a desired angle of view left no room to back away to the minimum focussing distance of the lens.

Flight Of Swans

A sculpture by sculptor Eng Siak Loy taking flight in the botanic gardens. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured with 1-2/3 stops of underexposure to retain highlight details.

The image appeared fine at this size here but at actual size, vegetation didn’t seem to be clear and the swan sculpture looked like a painted block.

ISO was a low 200 and shutter speed was 1/950 second, so it could probably be a lens de-centring issue which this particular camera had been known to be quite prone to.

This was already my third XS1, two others I had earlier had to be shelved when they also eventually developed the same problem.

Sitting Pretty

A comfortable looking emu resting in the heat of the day in the Bird Paradise. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The grass looked a bit overwhelming in the original shot. So the greens and yellows there were toned down in post while the emu had its colours saturated a little bit more.

Seek And You Shall Find

A chestnut-eared araçari looking a little annoyed at having its meal interrupted in the Bird Paradise. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

In its habitat, this toucan would apparently fly in flocks and in single line formation over tree canopies seeking fruiting ones.

This one was captured in a dark corner of its cage with the exposure biased a stop darker. The wire mesh in front of the bird was in the sun and was therefore visible. Dark and mid-tones had need to be pulled back in post and the faintly visible wire mesh had to be ‘burned’ away to get this final image.